Moseley v Rotherham - Sat 22/10

[Communications Team]

MOSELEY RUGBY CLUB
*****PRESS RELEASE******
17-Oct-2011

“MOSELEY v ROTHERHAM – ‘TRIBUTE TO TONY THOMAS DAY’ AT BILLESLEY”

RFU Championship: Moseley v Rotherham, Saturday 22nd October
Kick off 3pm at Billesley Common Birmingham B13

Moseley returned from Leeds with a single point for their efforts last weekend and the Birmingham side will be keen to bounce back from the disappointment in Yorkshire by matching points with performance against another Yorkshire club, Rotherham, this coming weekend. (Saturday 22nd October – 3pm kick off at Billesley Common).

With both sides intent on playing expansive and entertaining rugby, there should be a potentially mouth-watering encounter at Billesley Common

The fixture will have added poignancy as the fixture has been dedicated to the memory of former club President Tony Thomas who died after a six year battle against cancer on 7th August this year.

The club has invited his family (including his five sons and wife) as guests of honour at the RFU Championship fixture and expect a significant turnout from Tony’s many friends and colleagues built up over a lifetime contribution to Moseley.

Former 1st XV coach John White encapsulated Tony's contribution to Moseley Rugby Club when he made his address at Tony’s funeral highlighting that there was hardly a single element or aspect of the Moseley Club that Tony had not been involved with and contributed to and, in this respect, he was probably unique in the history of the Club.

Bargain Boxes
Why not complete the day and enjoy a bargain special offer hospitality boxes.
£399 provides a private hospitality box for 12 people, match day entry for 12; preferred parking; 12 match day programmes; quality hot buffet; Mini Bar and Waitress served draft beers at clubhouse prices; and a great view!

Hospitality Boxes: Alan Potter (m) 07530 105289
****ENDS****

[Communications Team]

For those that missed the tribute to Tony Thomas published in an earlier edition of Moseley Matters - please log in and download the attached word document.

[Communications Team]

Dougall Proud Of Welsh Victory
For immediate release Tuesday 18th October 2011
Issued on behalf of Rotherham Titans

As Rotherham Titans tremendous victory away to London Welsh starts to sink in, stand in skipper Sean Dougall explains how it didn’t come as a shock to the squad.

Dougall said, “It was all about work rate and belief; it’s as simple as that. We did our homework throughout the week, we probably worked as hard as we ever have in the video room with our planning and we knew we could do it. I think we just blew them away in the first twenty minutes and they didn’t expect that and this is what happens when you do that.

“We knew that they would rush us in defence, so we thought we’d do exactly the same and fight fire with fire and we were up in their face as much as possible. We said that they would come at us and they did and we knew we couldn’t step back. We knew we had to have the belief and we did and it paid off in the end.”

Dougall continued and explained how being underdogs for the game actually helped his side, “A lot of people didn’t expect that we would get the win here never mind the bonus point. We were written off by a lot of people and that kind of went in our favour because we developed a bit of a chip on our shoulders so to speak. But were are delighted and I’m really proud of all the boys and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.

“We can’t get too carried away though and we’ve already said we have to take each week as it comes. The play-offs are a long way off and it’s not even Christmas yet. So we need to keep grinding wins out and take each match as it comes along and not get carried away.

“We said at half time we had 40 minutes to make a statement, our biggest statement of the season so far. People weren’t expecting this from us, but now I think teams will think that Rotherham is a team to be reckoned with and they can bring something to the table. As I said, I’m really proud of the boys and what we achieved against a very good side like London Welsh.”

Next up for the Titans is another road trip when they visit Billesley Common on Saturday to take on Moseley, kick off 3pm.

[Communications Team]

Moseley v Rotherham Big Match Preview now available in the 1st XV fixtures section of the club website

www.moseleyrugby.co.uk/report_display12.php?season=t&team_group_id=1&repfixid=804

[Communications Team]

MOSELEY RUGBY CLUB
*****PRESS RELEASE******
20-Oct-2011

“Moseley keep the Faith”

The Championship: Moseley v Rotherham
Saturday 22nd October, 3pm kick off at Billesley Common, Birmingham

After Sunday’s last minute one-point defeat to Leeds at Headingly, Moseley keep faith with the twenty-two who participated in that match, although there is a doubt about the fitness of Jack Adams who injured himself in training on Tuesday.

This will be the first time this season that the side has been unchanged, and the coaches will be looking to build on their second half performance last week, when their side had all but won the game until a last ditch penalty took the points. With Rotherham buoyed by success against high-flying London Welsh last week, Moseley are sure to have a hard task on their hands.


Starting 15: 01. Tom WARREN; 02.Adam CAVES; 03.Antony O’DONNELL; 04. David LYONS; 05.Paul SPIVEY; 06. Neil MASON; 07. Michael MALTMAN; 08.Chevvy PENNYCOOK; 09.Ryan GLYNN; 10. Brad DAVIES; 11.Oliver THOMAS; 12.Andy REAY (capt); 13. Greg KING; 14.William ROBINSON; 15. Anthony CARTER;

Replacements: 16. Richard STOTT 17.Charley THOMAS (FR) 18. Craig VOISEY (FR); 19. Colin QUIGLEY (FR); 20. Drew HARPER; 21. Sam BROWN; 22. Jack ADAMS

****ENDS****

[Communications Team]

Titans make five changes for Moseley
For immediate release Friday 21st October 2011
Issued on behalf of Rotherham Titans

Rotherham Titans Head Coach Andre Bester has made five changes to the side that impressively beat London Welsh 33-25 in the capital last week. This week Titans face another road trip, when they travel to Billesley Common for the tricky challenge Moseley will undoubtedly present, kick off 3pm Saturday.

The one change in the back line sees Cliffie Hodgson come in for Stephen Hamilton at full back. Up front Bester has changed both props; at loose head Jamie Kilbane replaces Shane Cahill and at tight head Rob O’Donnell comes in for Ben Hooper. In the second row Barney Maddison replaces Neale Patrick and club captain Sam Dickinson returns to the starting line up, he gives the in form Semisi Taulava a break at number 8.

Moseley are coached by two ex Titans in Head Coach Kevin Maggs and his assistant Craig West. Both served the Clifton Lane club admirably during their spell and were both big hits with the supporters. Moseley’s playing staff comprises of five ex Titans in Anthony Carter, Brad Hunt, Anton O’Donnell, Colin Quigley and Craig Voisey all of whom will be trying to ‘put one over’ their old club.

The two sides have met each other on 25 previous occasions in all competitions, with Rotherham holding a healthy 17-8 advantage. Rotherham’s biggest win over Moseley came in the 2002/03 season when a 17 try demolition at Millmoor saw the Titans run out 102-3 winners.

Andre Bester knows Saturday visit to Moseley will present his side with a stiff challenge, he said,” We have respect for Moseley and we won’t be making too many changes, however it’s a squad game and we sawlast week at London Welsh how well the players that came in did. There is a certain amount of rotation but we are very respectful of Moseley, they showed against Leeds that they can play rugby and can control matches. They’ve got a lot to prove and they are on their own patch and I expect them to provide us with a difficult challenge.

“Last year they gave us a fair and square hiding down there 9-5 and it was an upsetting result, I felt we played particularly bad in that game. We have a lot to prove going to Moseley!

“We are targeting the Moseley game like we target every game and if you don’t turn up and earn the result, you don’t get it. We’ve worked very hard this week as we always do and we know we have a tough task ahead of us. In the past 18 months we’ve had an apprehension about away matches, but in the last few weeks that has disappeared.

“Moseley are a better side than they were last season and they’ll have a little more self belief after pushing Leeds so close last week. They will be really up for this match given the history between the clubs in terms of coaches and players.

“Moseley have an abrasive pack, a good back line, there are very experienced in certain areas of the pitch and they are on their own
patch and are proving a very difficult side to beat. If we don’t apply ourselves properly, then we are going to be in trouble.

“But we are going to Moseley with the intention of winning the match, not damage limitation like we have on previous occasions; we’re going there to win. Likewise Moseley will have the same mindset, they will be planning the same and they will believe they can win also. There’s a lot of respect between the clubs, but when the whistle goes that all goes out of the window and our application is going to be all important.”

Rotherham Titans: 15 Cliffie Hodgson, 14 Tom Foden, 13 Shane Monahan, 12 Pale Nonu, 11 Ed Tellwright, 10 Garry Law, 9 Jimmy Williams, 1 Jamie Kilbane, 2 Ted Stagg, 3 Rob O’Donnell, 4 Barney Maddison 5 Adrian Griffiths, 6 Robin Copeland, 7 Sean Dougall, 8 Sam Dickinson (Capt.).

Replacements From: 16 Dan Baines, 17 Shane Cahill, 18 Ben Hooper, 19 Ross Noonan, 20 Semisi Taulava, 21 Matt Rhodes, 22 Steve Hamilton, 23 Elliot Brierley, 24 Ben Harris.

[moseleywedge]

Birmingham Evening Mail Preview:

www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/birmingham-rfc-rugby/moseley-rfc/2011/10/21/moseley-rugby-club-forwards-are-the-key-in-rotherham-titans-clash-97319-29636902/

[martinwatson aka Camera Shake]

Birmingham Mail's Moseley Rugby Round Up
www.birminghammail.net/multimedia/sport/other-sports/video/2011/10/21/moseley-rugby-round-up-a-look-back-to-leeds-and-ahead-to-rotherham-97319-29635940/

[CJB1]

Well frankly, we were outmuscled today. Roth had some serious sides of beef even in their back line, and their No 8 - who rightly got carded after spending half the afternoon on the wrong side of the ball at the ruck - was bigger than our locks. We could have been the most skilful side in the world and would still have got beaten up.

That said, it looks like some work is due on catching and keeping the sodding ball. The number of times we lost it in the lineout and in open play, we really did ourselves no favours. Mind you, it did look like Cavesy was overthrowing in the lineout, and when he got it right we kept the ball.

[Mr Steve]

I agree CJB1, the Roth team was HUGE , once they got some quick ball there was simply no stopping them. We just couldn't compete with the physicality.

Having said that, Roth look a good side and will be difficult to beat in this division but I'm not sure they will threaten the top 3/4 teams, they seemed to spill the ball almost as much as we did !

I think Mose worked hard, a few individual errors did not help but we were beaten by the bigger, stronger team.

On a final note good to see the team play in the new kit - at last

[Oddsox]

I was standing next to the outside burger bar as teams came out at start.

If you're familiar with film 'Dodge Ball' - Rotherham looked like Ben Stillers 'Purple Cobra's' with Moseley following on behind like 'Average Joes Gym'!!. They were huuuge & once game started, unfortunately, they weren't huge ....& slow !

20 mins 3-3 - Moseley competing well. Once they scored, there was an ominous feeling about Billesley, BUT.... we had the wind & slope second half, if we could just stay in it...... two late first half tries & conversions, meant 3 - 29 at half time - game over.

Again second half - could not fault the commitent from anyone - infact looked like winning second half 5-0, until last play of match gave them another try & conversion.

I thought Moes competed well throughout - the worrying thing is, that Rotherham were perhaps one of the side we targeted to finish above?
Someone in bar after, said Roth are fully professional - do we know how many teams are semi-pro in this league now?

Ellery out injured?. Chevvy started at 8, but think it was Drew Harper? came on 2nd half & looked excellent.

Kit looked good - totally committed performance against some brutes - no complaints.
Keep believing.

[bunji]

I think the management team would have targeted this as one game to get something out of points wise and in the second half we huffed and puffed and ryan got his try but it was a convincing loss.The facts are these, after Bristol and Plymouth we are half way through our league campaign with what I think will be one win so we are going to need two more wins in the second half of the season so at least we can take 3 points into Pool C playoffs because I fear that is where we will be again. Heres hoping though.

[gary]

Agree with most of the comments above. I actually thought that this was our best first 20 minutes of any game this season. I seem to recall we gave possession away/lost the ball which gave them their initial tries and after that I thought we completely lost our defensive shape for the remainder of the first half.

Having said that we came out strongly at the start of the second half and if we had only finished off some of the pressure we had at the start of that I think we could have got much closer to them.

I'm trying to be positive here but realistically the league table does not lie. We are paying the price of not wining matches we should have won earlier in the season.

Just a small point - I know we picked up Dan Sanderson from Bees at the end of last year (and he is due back next week after suspension) but should we not have picked up their numbers 4 and 8 too from Bees?

We seem no closer to sorting out some of our preferred combinations - front row, half backs, back row etc and at this stage in the season that worries me.

I don't think Rotherham were world beaters but our confidence is not great at the moment and some key players in the forwards and backs need to show leadership during games.

[welshexile1963]

I dont think I should say anything about what I thought, I just hope they play better against Bristol at the next home game! Amd the next away of course.

[sorrento]

In response to Gary's comment about Griffiths and Taulava, I'm pretty sure that they had agreed to sign for Roth before the play-offs were completed i.e. before we knew for sure which division we would be in this season and, therefore, what our recruiting options would be.

[bargee]

Interesting to read Andre Bester's article in todays rugby paper (Mylifeinrugby), towards the end of the article,he talks of making a few big calls over the summer and the reaction he got from some of the players who were to be moved on.
Yesterdays game really showed the difficulty in trying to compete with 'full time' teams on large budgets.

[Steve@Mose]

Sunday Mercury match report.

[botty1963]

Oct 23, 2011 15:16:49 GMT bargee said:

Interesting to read Andre Bester's article in todays rugby paper (Mylifeinrugby), towards the end of the article,he talks of making a few big calls over the summer and the reaction he got from some of the players who were to be moved on.
Yesterdays game really showed the difficulty in trying to compete with 'full time' teams on large budgets.

Hi, Roth fan here. I just saw this post and would like to make a comment. Yes Rotherham have gone to full-time training this season and it is showing in the play - we also recruited 24 new players so had a lot of integrating to do. The training is normally an early start at Don Valley Stadium to do fitness and weights, then a break, then game training on field in the afternoon. However, 'large budgets' is far from it and you would be very surprised to know how little they are paid - pay that anyone with a wife and kids would struggle with, but I'm sure their must be other sponsorship options that help them along.

And you're right that we have a big team, and on Saturday we didn't have our biggest team out! Our recruitment of Semisi Tualava, Adrian Griffiths, Jummy Williams and Tom Foden from B&S was a stroke of genius by Bester.

Good luck for the rest of the season. We couldn't get down on Saturday but have been down for the last few years, a proper rugby club and a great set of supporters.

[Steve@Mose]

Birmingham Post Match Report

Birmingham Mail Match Report

[gary]

Thanks to 'Sorrento' for his helpful comments about recruitment - that makes sense.

Thanks also to Steve for posting the above reports. Brian Dick got it right again and (dare I say) I think Kevin Maggs has as well. He and Craig have surely seen enough by now to decide who is up to the task or not. The problem is what options do they have left!

Nice to see the post from Rotherham. To reciprocate the compliment I've been there twice now myself and made to feel most welcome both times.

[moseleywedge]

They had some big guys on saturday. It took all we could to stop them.

[moseleywedge]

In the end I think we were clutching at tailcoats!

[monkeytennis]

Hi all, thanks for such a friendly and enjoyable day on saturday! Had a lovely day out, and the pork sandwiches and a pint of pale ale set the day off very well.

Has anyone got an online account with photos from saturday? Also was camerashake there doing a video of the game?

[martinwatson aka Camera Shake]

Hope to get some video on to the itv.com/central-west website soon.

[grooveavenue]

MOZ ROTH

It was noticeable that Kevin strutted across the pitch to the dugout 4 minutes before the 2nd half started..........alone and fed up! His comments today seem to reflect his anger, frustration and annoyance on Saturday

What can he say to the players whose very consistent form of not playing in the first half continued.

I have to say however Roth towered over us in physique and power and pace. Rather like Lond Scot and Leeds this was a target fixture. It looks difficult from here on in. Lets believe that his recent arrival along with tons of players (not so many tons though!!) in the Summer will come to fruition soon. A difficult job for Kevin and staff.

Next up Plymouth....another target fixture?..............then Bristol.............mmmm

Lets get to it..................come on Mozzzzzzzz...................!

[botty1963]

Oct 24, 2011 15:59:10 GMT gary said:

Nice to see the post from Rotherham. To reciprocate the compliment I've been there twice now myself and made to feel most welcome both times.

Thanks for the comment gary - I run the Titans Forum and it's great to see another active forum in the Championship.